João 13

Jesus explains His action

12 So when Jesus had washed their feet and put His garments back on, He reclined again and said to them: "Do you know what I have done to you? 15 Because I have given you an example, so that you also should do just as I did to you.*First, we have the physical example of washing feet—those communities that practice foot washing have more basis for doing so than the rest of us have for not doing so (foot washing can be an important spiritual exercise). Second, we have the spiritual reality behind the example. The crucial point is in verse 10, "One who is bathed has no need except to wash his feet". Anyone who has been ‘washed in the blood of the Lamb’ has had his bath. But walking on the paths of life we get our feet dirty, we sin, and sin breaks our fellowship with God—you can’t go into the living room with dirty feet. We need the blood of Christ for our daily cleansing, upon which depends our fellowship and communion with Him—as He said to Peter, "If I do not wash [not ‘bathe’] you, you have no part with me". I regard Philippians 2:5-8 as a parallel passage: He took the form of a slave (verse 7), and His ‘work’ took Him to the cross, where He shed His blood, upon which both our salvation [bath] and daily walk [washing] depend.